Matthew 15:1–20

Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions—Mark 7:1–23

¹Then some Pharisees and experts in Moses’ Teachings came from Jerusalem to Jesus. They asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” 

³He answered them, “Why do you break the commandment of God because of your traditions? ⁴For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, ‘I have given to God whatever support you might have received from me,’ ⁶does not have to honor his father. Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 

⁸‘These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me. 

⁹Their worship of me is pointless, 

because their teachings are rules made by humans.’ ” 

¹⁰Then he called the crowd and said to them, “Listen and try to understand! ¹¹What goes into a person’s mouth doesn’t make him unclean.^aIt’s what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.” 

¹²Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you realize that when the Pharisees heard your statement they were offended?” 

¹³He answered, “Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Leave them alone! They are blind leaders. When one blind person leads another, both will fall into the same pit.” 

¹⁵Peter said to him, “Explain this illustration to us.” 

¹⁶Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷Don’t you know that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then into a toilet? ¹⁸But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. ¹⁹Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, ⸤other⸥ sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within. ²⁰These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating without washing one’s hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”